Vitamin D, cancer prevention

When Cole Porter penned the lyrics “It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s delectable, it’s delirious; It’s dilemma, it’s de limit, it’s deluxe, it’s de-lovely,” he wasn’t talking about vitamin D. But he could have been, since it has so many definite distinctions.

A new study published in Seminars in Cancer Biology points out that in addition to being a vital element in bone health and immune strength, vitamin D’s cancer-preventing powers are pretty impressive.

Plus, vitamin D-ficiency is associated with an increased risk of colon, breast, prostate and blood cancers.

To reap D’s benefits, you need to know how you respond to vitamin D2/D3 supplements (we really don’t know if D2 or D3 is better). Some folks, say the researchers from Finland and Spain, are low responders and need higher doses to gain the benefits; some folks are high responders. That’s why it is so important to get a blood test to establish your baseline blood level and initial dose. And you should go back in two or three months for another test to see if your blood level has gone up enough. If not, increase your dose.

Our recommendation is that you get 10 minutes a day of sun exposure without sunscreen and take a supplement dose that gives you a blood level reading of 50 to 80 nanograms per milliliter.

The standard recommendations are to aim for 20 ng/mL to 30 ng/mL, but between indoor living, sunscreen and poor nutrition, we think the higher blood level is beneficial, with no risks.